Air Arabia carries 43 percent more people to and from India

Dubai, May 1 (IANS) The Middle East’s largest budget airline Air Arabia carried 246,296 passengers on its Sharjah-India routes in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 43 percent compared to 172,246 passengers during the same period in 2007. The airline said its passenger average load factor - passengers carried as a proportion of available seats - across its destination network in India stood at 94 percent for the first quarter of 2008.

“India is an important market for Air Arabia, and we are committed to providing the best value for money for our customers who fly on our routes there,” A.K. Nizar, Air Arabia’s head of commercial department, said in a statement here.

“Passengers flying between India and the UAE will see even more innovative services introduced by Air Arabia in the near future,” he said.

Air Arabia flies directly from its hub in Sharjah to Ahmedabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Kochi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Thiruvanathapuram, Bangalore, Kozhikode and New Delhi in India.